Recycled walls for luggages and the like

ABSTRACT

Recycled walls (C) for luggage and the like and its manufacturing process, more particularly it refers to walls (C) that make up the sides of travel luggage having built-in casters (E) or not, of purses, trunks or similar objects used to accommodate personal effects or belongings that people use in travels or daily routine. Said walls (C) benefit conservation of the environment since they allow recycling of plastic materials as often as necessary.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This present utility model refers to a constructive arrangement applied to frontal and back walls that make up each side of luggage, either rolling or not, of purses used to carry personal effects and/or of trunks and objects in general similar to the aforementioned, said walls being side portions that make up said luggage, purses, trunks and any other similar objects, thus maintaining them in upright position. This utility model also refers to a manufacturing method for personalized and recyclable frontal and back walls.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Luggage, purses, trunks and handbags in general used to carry personal effects are indispensable items when accommodation and guard for personal articles are considered, up from the smallest to the biggest objects that might be useful to people day by day. Wherever people go to, in a short or a long distance away, people take along with them personal belongings, thus placing their belongings onto an ideal and preferred size of container.

Remarkably, as it concerns to national and international journeys, people arrive at and depart from bus terminals, seaports and airports moving along with them traditional baggage in the most varied sizes and shapes, yet with built-in casters so as to allow movement onward without exerting great physical efforts from the owner. Such rolling luggage and the like are very often seen at airports, specially in international flights; in general, said luggage is provided with a rectangular shape, having an average or tall height and yet having built-in casters, auxiliary straps and handle to support moving them along the way.

Small-sized pieces, as for instance purses, suitcases, valises and objects to carry personal effects are made with the most varied shapes and sizes as square, rectangular and round, and are carried along either by the hands, placed on shoulders or on the back of its owner by means of suspending short or long straps according to the type of accommodation they are used for.

luggage, purses, trunks, suitcases and small containers to carry personal effects are manufactured worldwide with the most varied types of materials either leather, synthetic materials, cloths and other types having a diversified variation of colours in accordance with the fashion at the time of manufacture. Sometimes they are also provided with decorative art, illustrations or advertisement printed in their bodies.

Therefore, luggage, purses, trunks, suitcases and small containers to carry personal effects are indispensable in daily routine of people at work, when traveling, when walking from place to place, at leisure and for keeping safe their belongings.

PRIOR ART

A search carried out in national and international patent datebases disclosed either patent and patent applications that relate to something looking like personalization of traveling baggage, however without being similar to the matter now claimed in this utility model. Said patent and patent applications are described as follows:

Brazilian patent number PI04056337 disclosed a traveling luggage made up of two pieces like shells manufactured with a synthetic material and partially transparent. A papersheet drawn with some illustrations may be placed in the back of said transparent portion, however without personalizing said luggage.

American patent number US2011308907 (WO2009CN74776) disclosed a method for production of a traveling luggage by means of thermoformation, said luggage moulded in accordance with some desired shape. Nonetheless, said method is shown as unsimilar to this claimed invention, thus resulting in a distinct product.

Objectives of this Invention

Aiming at providing the market in general, specially the market of travel agencies, tourism and leisure, yet the market of retailers and distributors of luggage and similar articles and, particularly the final user with an innovative product, the applicant developed novel sidewalls designed to form both sides of travel rolling luggage, either frontal and back sides, and yet to form the sides of travel luggage having no casters built-in, of purses, trunks, suitcases, valises to carry personal effects and of similar containers. Said sidewalls, both frontal and back sides, are manufactured by thermoforming process and an exclusive direct digital impression, said sidewalls made of recyclable materials as, for instance, made of soft drinks 2-liters plastic bottles. Further, said walls are able of being recycled again and again since they are made of a resin, a recycled thermoplastic polyester polymer commonly referred to as PET (polyethylene terephthalate).

The walls resulting from manufacture process are an exclusive, beautiful, resistent and light weight product that may be replaced anytime upon the likes of the owner by his/her mere wish to replace the decoration or inscription inserted in the luggage, handbag or similar object or, whatever, to make a repair due to some damage or other events.

At the time to replace one decoration or one inscription the luggage, handbag or similar object is thereby personalized once more since the owner may choose a drawing or decoration that fits him/her better and thereafter said drawing or decoration is inserted onto the walls by means of an internal incorporation process and shall be part of said frontal or back wall. Said process of internal incorporation avoids drawing or decoration to become damaged or discoloured, thus losing away its identification since no damage to the image inserted internally shall occur by the outer surface of said walls.

For being thoroughly made of recyclable materials said walls, either frontal or back, are an environmental friendly product since it avoids a huge amount of waste PET bottles to be deposited at sanitary landfills or discharged at radon. For each small-sized wall used to manufacture a travel luggage having dimensions of 55 cm height, 35 cm length and 25 cm width twenty-five 2-liters PET bottles are required, thus avoiding said twenty-five bottles/wall to be harmfully deposited in nature, thus contributing for a constant reuse of a material that could have stayed for a long time on sanitary landfills or floating along above seas and oceans. Therefore, in a proportion of large amount of production of said walls thousands and thousands of PET bottles are eliminated from deposited at nature.

These technical features of the present utility model and other advantages will be easily identified in the figures, in the patent specification and in the claims that come thereafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a travel luggage with built-in casters completely assembled and ready for use by owner.

FIG. 2 illustrates an explosion view of said travel luggage disclosed in FIG. 1 showing off parts the luggage structure is made of, namely the casters (E) and the carrying and securing handle (A).

FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of the wall (C) that corresponds to the same dimension of the luggage.

FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the wall (C) that is produced by this present invention and having inserted onto said wall (C) an image chosen by luggage owner as desired for personalization.

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of the wall (C) disclosed in FIG. 4 having a different decoration, said wall (C) incorporated to the luggage as a substitution and, at one side, another model of a decorated wall.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring now to the drawings illustrated in this present utility model they are related to a “Reclyed walls for luggage and the like and its manufacturing process”, more particularly this invention refers to the frontal and back walls (C) that make up each side of a travel luggage having built-in casters (E) or not, hereinafter named luggage walls (C) manufactured with recycled material from soft-drink PET bottles, usually bottles with contents of two liters each. Such material is postconsumption recycled material composed of polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ultraviolet (UV) and etyl polytherephthalate.

Such walls (C) also refer to sidewalls, or simply sides, that make up the bodies of purses in general, suitcases, trunks, valises and handbags for personal effects and other containers carried to guard objects or belongings used by people in daily routine.

Well before the step of manufacturing said walls (C) a model of luggage, trunk, purse or such other item made of rigid structure or plastic is defined or chosen.

After this first step, the required amount of raw material to form the structure of the walls (C) is obtained and this will form the sidewalls of the new product or the product that will be repaired which may either be a luggage, a handbag or any other item. The amount of required raw material will depend upon the dimensions of the product and will be processed by means of thermoforming. This will originate a finished moulded PET panel; following this procedure said PET panel goes through a cutting operation by means of a moulding router using the specification details of the new product. In next procedure holes provided with adequate and sufficient length are perforated in said panel in order to fit the structure of the travel luggage which is usually made up of a structure containing a zip closure, casters (E) and a carrying and holding handle (A).

Before fitting walls (C) into the new rolling luggage choice of an image, figure, decoration or drawing to be internally printed onto the PET panel has to be made.

The chosen image is then centralized in the same dimension of the luggage and imprinted into said PET panel. It is to be noted that it is an internal impression, that is, chosen image is imprinted in the inner face of the PET panel through direct digital impression, thus ensuring protection of said image inserted onto the wall (C) against damages or discoloration of the image that identifies in a personalized way the walls (C) to a luggage owner.

This process provides exclusivity and personalization to luggage, purses, trunks or any other product since an owner or a client has an option to choose a decoration of one's own desire. Said process allows for an efficient and rapid production of walls (C), producing as much as a single piece to an owner alone or hundreds or thousands of pieces to a distributor, to a promotional campaign of an airline company, to a touristic agency or to a shop selling such products.

Said process is also useful for replacement of old walls (C) in travel luggage that have been damaged since substitute walls (C) can be produced by the same process having same dimensions, quality and standards of the walls (C) that are being replaced. This greatly contributes with the reuse of the raw material and also translates into benefits to environment having in mind that all the plastic material is recycled.

Specifically as it concerns to the luggage walls (C) manufactured by this process, said walls (C) will be of small, medium and big sizes aimed at personalizing any type of luggage and the like derived from plastic, thus obtaining a product ecologically viable, practical, light and elegant, no matter what types of coloration, plastic or structure.

It is certain that when this present invention is put into practice modifications and adaptations may be introduced as it concerns to some technical and conception details and forms, including other materials that might be used as raw materials and other uses of the improved product without meaning depart from the fundamental principles that are clearly supported in the claims set, thus considering such modifications and adaptations falling within the range of this invention, therefore it is understood that the terminology employed herein does not have any intention of limitation. 

1-21. (canceled)
 22. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects, characterized in that said structures are frontal and back structures of said objects in the form of recyclable walls (C).
 23. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said recyclable walls (C) are manufactured from waste soft drink PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles having liquid contents of 2 liters each bottle.
 24. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said polyethylene terephthalate (PET) comprises raw recycled material.
 25. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said raw material of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is recycled in the order of 100% of a collected volume.
 26. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said recyclable walls (C) are manufactured from postconsumption recycled plastics comprising either polycarbonate, polypropylene, polystyrene, ultraviolet (UV) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET).
 27. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said walls (C) are produced by thermoforming process to obtain a mould in accordance with the dimensions of the luggage, trunks, purses or similar object in which they will be incorporated to.
 28. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said mould is internally engraved between its opposite surfaces to personalize luggage, trunks, purses or a similar object.
 29. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said inner engraving is made by means of direct digital impression.
 30. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said walls (C) are recyclable and replaceable so as to personalize new, damaged or yet unused luggage.
 31. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said walls (C) are spare parts for luggage, trunks, purses and similar objects.
 32. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said walls (C) are manufactured in the ratio of 25 waste soft drink PET bottles to produce one small-sized wall (C) for each small-sized luggage or similar object having overall dimensions of 55×35×25 cm in height, width and depth, respectively.
 33. Recycled walls for luggages and the like, more particularly it is related to structures that make up luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 22, characterized in that said waste soft drink PET bottles are bottles having liquid contents of two litters each.
 34. A process for production of recycled walls (C) for luggages, trunks, purses and similar objects, characterized in that it comprises the following steps: Obtaining raw materials in an adequate amount; Processing said raw material into PET panels; Selection of a luggage or similar object to be worked with; Selection of figures or images that will be internally engraved; Centralization of the figures or images throughout dimension of luggage; Engraving a figure or image by direct digital impression between opposite surfaces of the panel; Processing said panels by means of thermoformation to obtain moulds; Cutting said prepared panels by means of a moulding router;
 35. A process for production of recycled walls (C) for luggages trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 34, characterized in that said raw materials are waste soft drink polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle of 2 liters liquid contents each.
 36. A process for production of recycled walls (C) for luggages trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with in accordance with claim 34, characterized in that said raw material is a postconsumption recycled plastic.
 37. A process for production of recycled walls (C) for luggages trunks, purses and similar objects and in accordance with claim 34, characterized in that the raw material comprises at least one of the following products: polycarbonate compound, polypropylene, polystyrene, ultraviolet (UV) and polyethylene terephthalate.
 38. A process for production of recycled walls (C) for luggages trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 34, characterized in that said process is used to manufacture new luggage, to repair damaged luggage or to personalize when replacing walls (C) of luggage currently in use.
 39. A process for production of recycled walls (C) for luggages trunks, purses and similar objects in accordance with claim 34, characterized in that said process is an exclusive process for recycling 100% of waste soft drink PET bottles of 2 liters liquid contents each. 